


Chalkboard Art

by Jenni_Snake



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Art, Gen, Sidewalk Chalk, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 10:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenni_Snake/pseuds/Jenni_Snake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newton has erased part of Hermann's chalkboard, and Hermann doesn't take it so well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chalkboard Art

**Author's Note:**

> _Apologies for the drawing - I figure I draw as well as Newt. That is why there is accompanying fic. (Drawing was done on My Sketchbook HD for iPhone, by finger (yes, seriously), and ‘upgraded’ on pixlr.com *cough* And thanks to softhermann for helping me beta!)_
> 
> _(first posted on tumblr)_

"Newton…"

If a single word could kill, that would have been it. Leaning down to take another incredibly thin slice of kaiju brain, Newt grinned.

Hermann stared daggers at the bottom corner of his chalkboard where Newt had erased a series of equations and replaced them with a colourful caricature. Hermann was not amused.

"Why did you do this?" he seethed, knuckles turning white as he seized his cane, mouth twisted in fury.

"I thought you could use something to brighten your day!" said a very chipper Newt.

"I was up until midnight working…" Hermann said, trailing off, a mixture of despair and anger tinging his voice.

"I know," said Newt. "I saw the problem yesterday afternoon, I just thought it would be funny to see how long it took you to figure out. I didn’t know you still wouldn’t have caught it by the time you left. But don’t worry, I only erased the parts that were wrong."

There was a silence. Only the background hum of the Shatterdome made any noise. Hermann continued staring; Newt laid the slice of his specimen across a glass slide and placed it to the side. The silence stretched for nearly a full minute. There was only the cracking of knuckles as Hermann flexed his hand.

"You were using the specific gravity for water," Newt said, stretching his arms to readjust his sleeves over his elbow and going in for another slice, talking casually, as if what he had just said hadn’t almost been the cause of his premature death. "I switched it for ammonia. You’ll find it’ll probably work better. Once you finish up that last bit."

Hermann’s eyes darted across the board, scanning every calculation. His fingers tapped out their own code against his thumb as he thought. He sprang forward, grabbing a piece of chalk, and scribbled a short set of symbols in the corner, around Newt’s infantile illustration. Breathing a bit heavier, he stood back and again checked that everything worked. He tossed the chalk onto the ledge and shoved his hand in his pocket, leaving a streak of white on his pants. He stood silently for another moment.

“It does work…” Hermann admitted laboriously, at twitch pulling at his mouth.

“Well, you don’t have to thank me for it.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Good. Then I won’t have to tell you not to mention it.”

The drawing stayed for a while in the corner of the chalkboard. Hermann didn’t erase, nor did he try to preserve it - he simply worked around it and over it until it faded away.


End file.
